93 - Sharing the Fire - Preparing Non-specialized OR Staff for Burn Mass Casualty Response

Location: Hall E

Primary Poster Author(s)

HL

Hailey S. Lee, BSN, RN, CNOR

Staff Nurse
NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center
Palisades Park, New Jersey, United States

Co-Author(s)

Sheiryl Gica, MSN RN CNOR

Nurse Clinician
New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell
New York, New York, United States
PC

Philip H. Chang, MD FACS FABA (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor of Surgery, Attending Burn Surgeon, Associate Director, Director
NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center
New York, New York, United States
LG

Lola Gonta, MSN, RN, CNOR

Operating Room Nursing Clinical Manager
NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center
New York, New York, United States

Disclosure(s):

Hailey S. Lee, BSN, RN, CNOR: No financial relationships to disclose

Sheiryl Gica, MSN RN CNOR: No financial relationships to disclose

Philip H. Chang, MD FACS FABA: No relevant disclosure to display

Lola Gonta, MSN, RN, CNOR: No financial relationships to disclose

Description: Background
Burn centers provide specialized, vitally important care in burn mass casualty disasters such as wildfires, fiery plane crashes, or terrorist incidents. The surgical capacity to excise, temporize, and ultimately graft burn wounds is essential to the successful treatment of victims of burn disasters. Burn surgery is a distinct specialty with unique instruments, supplies, and workflows that are often unfamiliar to non-burn OR nursing staff. However, limiting burn surgeries to a small cadre of trained staff poses challenges during emergencies by reducing surgical treatment capacity. Expanding burn surgical training to include all OR nurses improves team readiness and patient outcomes when rapid response to burn disasters is critical.

Purpose
The purpose of this project is to enhance the readiness of the OR nursing staff by equipping more non-burn-specialized nursing staff with the knowledge and confidence to circulate and scrub for burn surgeries. This project seeks to promote competency among non-burn nurses, particularly during high-pressure situations.

Method & Design
Aligned with AORN guidelines for emergency preparedness and team communication, this quality improvement initiative aims to prepare nurses with foundational burn surgery skills in the event of a disaster.

Results
Participating nursing staff reported increased confidence and readiness to circulate and scrub for burn surgeries after completing the training module. Pre- and post-training surveys measured perceived improvement, showing a positive shift in comfort levels.
Feedback indicated that the training materials and reference guidebook supported workflow efficiency and helped reduce anxiety during burn cases.

Conclusion
This project demonstrates that targeted education can enhance an OR team's disaster preparedness and support specialized burn surgical competency development among non-burn-specialized nursing staff. By implementing a brief, focused training module and a visual reference guidebook for burn surgery, operating room nurses with no prior experience in burns were prepared to assist in burn cases, improving patient safety, enhancing disaster preparedness, and promoting teamwork.